I am going to start talking about something ugly. I am going to talk about something that so many women and men deal with and is the cause of a lot of people's insecurities. Keratosis Pilaris. Also known as 'Chicken Skin'.
When I began writing this, I wanted to choose a picture of raw chicken skin for those of you that don't really know what this skin condition looks like and why it's referred to as chicken skin. However, I know we have a strong Vegan, Vegetarian and Pescatarian following and I wanted to be sensitive to those that may get offended or upset by seeing an image like that. But as you can see from the image above, the bumps on the skin are where it gets it's name from. That feral skin above by the way, is mine.... I know right.. how gross.
Anyway! so lets start at the beginning. Keratosis pilaris is a condition of the skin, usually affecting the upper arms, upper legs and buttox. However in different people, it can appear in other places as well. My doctors reasoning for me getting Keratosis Pilaris, is because it's hereditary and I have it 'just because'..... pfft. Yeah the body desperately wants to be ugly so is all 'oh yeah let's just go all gross and feral looking for the fun of it'. No. After a lot of research on my behalf, I have learnt that the main cause of Keratosis Pilaris is actually undiagnosed Coeliacs disease and/or gluten intolerance. Makes sense. I was an undiagnosed Coeliac for nearing 30 years and my skin is SEVERELY ugly.... felt like it made more sense to say severely ugly than severely keratosis'd? polarisid? Yep see... nothing else makes sense. So, to give you an example of what my skin looks like and how it affects me mentally and physically, I have taken some photos (aren't you lucky) of my upper arms, fore arms, thighs and calves. As I said, mine is Severe and has graduated from just being on the backs of my upper arms and thighs, to now covering my forearms, arm pits, calves, whole of my thighs, knees and bum.. oh and my hips. I'm So lucky. It's gross. It affects me every day and I dread heading into spring and summer. While I see all these ladies wearing beautiful sundresses and outfits, I usually don long sleeves and pants. I hate it. I was once asked not to try clothes on in a clothing store because the attendant didn't want me to put my skin on the clothing in the store in fear of someone else trying the top on after me and 'catching' my skin condition. **insert eye roll here**actually... add some heart ache and crying too**. So as you can imagine, it's horrible.
I'm explaining this like you don't have it, but if you're a reader that does have Keratosis Pilaris, know that I know what you're going through and I'm sorry you have to deal with it as well. It is so horrible. But hopefully you will share my journey with me and see if dry brushing could be the answer we have been searching for!
When I started this business, I met some amazing people! People that created the businesses that are in our collective. People that feel the same way I do about the world and what it has done to make us sick. And all of these people created their businesses to help make people feel better and contribute to making the world a happier, healthier place. One of these beautiful people I met is from Bode Care, and her name is Rebecca.
Rebecca is a beautician by trade and fell in love with Dry Brushing and it's effects on the skin and over all well being. When she fell in love with Dry Brushing, she fell in love with Bode Care and decided she would start to sell the products, so took a big leap of faith and created her own business. Rebecca is the type of person that even though I've only known since august, our conversations are as if we have known each other a long time. So you can imagine how personable she is.
In one of our recent conversations, she asked me about my skin and I told her about my Keratosis Pilaris and how severe it was. It was SO nice to speak to someone that actually understands what happens in the body to cause it, and also some things that can be done to help reverse it and improve it. The first thing she told me was to make sure I stay hydrated. Now! That conversation I had with her was quite long and there was a lot of information. So I am going to do my best with what I remember, and I will clarify with her the next time we have our 2 hour long conversation.
My understanding so far is that the oil in the skin, as well as the over production of Keratin (a protein that is created by the body to stop bacteria) somehow blocks the water in our bodies from hydrating our skin. Excess dry skin also contributes to blocking the pores, as well as oil and bacteria. See - I need to speak with her. The minute I do I'll add all the information in the next volume of this blog. Some other reading I did explained that it commonly effects people with dry skin which makes sense as the dry skin clogs the pores and therefore explains that those that have Keratosis need to exfoliate and use a great moisturiser or make sure their soap has a good fat in it. Rebecca told me that jojoba oil (actually a wax) is amazing for hydrating the skin.
Since Dead skin is a contributing factor, she explained to me that by removing this dead skin through dry brushing, we can help to stop the pores clogging. In addition to this, dry brushing brings blood to the skins surface which brings with it Oxygen and Water. This helps to hydrate the skin which also is thought to help.
After Rebecca explained this, she offered to send me a Dry Body brush suited to my skin type, and I agreed that I will blog my results with my skin. I have every confidence that this will work. I am positive. I have to be. It's the only thing I haven't tried.
So here we go, I devote myself to Dry Brushing once a day to help my keratosis pilaris, and blog once a week for the next 12 weeks updating you all on the progress of my skin. I am doing this because if it does work, I want you to see the results and feel assured that this is definitely something you can get behind and try for yourself!
This is my beautiful Dry Body Brush and Oils that Bec sent me. I have the Detox FSC brush with a Medium Bristle
Without further a-due - Here we go! Week one has commenced!
Back of Upper Arm
These are the photos of my skin on Day 1 before dry brushing. This is my upper arms, fore arms, thighs, and calves. Since I took these pictures this morning, I did my first dry brush and applied Jojoba oil after my shower as directed by Rebecca.
Forearm
Rebecca mentioned that Jojoba oil is amazing for Keratosis Pilaris, so I did a bit of research. I found a woman that swore Jojoba oil on it's own cured her keratosis... I guess we will see.
Bec explained that it's actually a wax! Not an oil! So that's pretty cool!
Something else I learnt about jojoba oil, is that it feels SEXAYYYYYY on the skin! Honestly, after I applied it, it felt like I had been draped in silk. It was SOOOOO Nice.
Upper Thigh
After I did the dry brushing, well, my skin felt a little on fire.
I guess that's because I'm not used to it. I watched the instructional video on the Bode care website, they make it look so easy.
Not that it's hard, but it involves brushing toward your lymph nodes to help in lymphatic drainage. It was hard to brush and watch the video at the same time... so I'm looking forward to dry brushing tomorrow now that I kinda know what I'm doing a bit more.
Front of Arm
You know those people that can pat their head and rub their belly at the same time? Yeah well I'm not one of those. I'm the one that Rubs the belly and then the head at the same time and then my hair goes frizzy and it's just a disaster. So watching the video was interesting while brushing. I probably should have watched it first.. cause I'd bend down to do my thighs and then the video had moved on and then I had to rewind and then I rewound too far and so had to go forward and then had to rewind again and well, you see where I'm going with this. The instructional video was actually really good I will add.... it's honestly the user in this situation... I'm about as co-ordinated as an inflatable arm flailing tube man.
So here it is for all to see. My feral skin.
While the weather is warm, I guess I'm lucky because using the jojoba is forcing me to wear short sleeves as I need it to stay on my skin and soak in... so short sleeves it is! Apparently that's also good for Keratosis is to let the skin breathe.
So! here we go. Counting down until next Tuesday and I will update you guys with more pictures and what my skin feels like. You can subscribe to a specific blog.. just head back to the main screen for 'Blog' and press the Subscribe-a-blog button and type in the name of the blog you want to subscribe too, and then I'll flick you an email when this thread has been updated!
Wish me luck! And I can't wait for next weeks post! Hopefully there is much improvement!
If you want to have a look at dry brushing and watch the Video, or purchase a dry body brush and do it along side me, click HERE, you can also get in contact with Rebecca and she will be able to discuss finding a brush that's right for you.
